Hello. I haven't done the LA to Hawaii, but I was on the Regal june 2005. We did a R/T San Fran to Alaska on her. The ship is one of there oldest in there fleet. We usually cruise RCCL, and have done Carnival once. We were very happy with the Regal. I liked the decor. I would cruise her again, but, I do prefer larger ships. I tend to get a little stir crazy. I need lots of activities and stuff to look at. Enjoy your cruise. Lil' Lori

Originally posted by rescue911chick:
Has anyone been on this cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii?? Just wondering what people think of Princess, I've only been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

We are taking the Island Princess 3/27 cruise Los Angeles to Hawaii. If you haven't read the posts on cruisecritic.com you might want to read about this particular itinerary. Go to the Boards, Princess roll calls and to Island Princess. There was a "live" posting from the last January cruise which will give you a good idea of what did and what could happen. There are several posting from the last cruise which will give you an idea of how different it can be from one cruise to another on the same ship with the same itinerary. A great deal of information on that "live" post. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=480259

We have sailed on Princess 18 times with 3 more booked and find her our favorite cruise line. Have not been on RCL or CCL so can't compare for you.

Hello rescue911chick,
I, like Lil' Lori haven't done L.A. to Hawaii (yet--but very soon!) but I have been on Regal Princess several times and I love it.
Lori is right; it dosen't have as many venues and activities as Princess' larger ships--but it is by no means a "small ship".
It is very nicely appointed but not as "elegant" as the newer ships; which is fine with me because it gives it a little more relaxed ambiance.
But what I really like about it is its space. The cabins are much roomier, with more closet and storage space than the newer ships--ideal for longer cruises. And it has nice wide decks and large pools. The swim-up bar is a kick. And the pizza restaurant is great; it's sit-down, but near the pools, enclosed, and very casual with good views and checkered tablecloths--not to mention great pizza, salads, and other items.
My only complaint would be about the Dome. One side is the casino and the other side is observation lounge/coctail lounge/
entertainment venue. Problem is, the casino side allows smoking; and while the othe side is non-smoking, the smoke wafts over. This was not a problem for me as I don't use the casino and there are plenty of other places for drinks and good views--I only mention it in the spirit of full-disclosure.

I have never been on any other line than Princess so I can't make any comparisons; but I have sailed with Princess for over 30 years and never had anything but great experiences.

Diamond Princess will start the L.A.--Hawaii run in September if you are interested in a larger and newer ship. It is great too, in it's own way.

Oh, I do remember the large inside room we had. It was the lowest/cheapest category. I was pleasantly surprised, at the nice size of the room we had. It was much larger, than the inside room we had for 3 people on the Freedom of the Seas last summer. Enjoy! Lil' Lori

Just posted my issue's on another site with Regal. BEWARE of this ship and Princess in general. The ship is being decommissioned this summer. It's old and not up to par with the newer vessels. Princess have been cutting corners and it's very obvious on this ship. Final warning. If you do go on this cruise, book your on flights rather than let Princess book for you. We had to go from Vancouver to Acapulco, normally a one stop in LA, 6 hour flight. They booked us Vancouver, Vegas, Atlanta, Acapulco. 20 hours. Luggage was lost for 5 out of 10 days. 40 very unhappy customers and Princess just didn't care. Nor did they take any responsibility for booking us through airports with only 45 minute turn arounds to the next flight. Of course the luggage wouldn't make it. We questioned that before we left, and they assured us that they do this all the time. DON'T DO IT...

Hello dr.j and welcome to cruise-chat;
very sorry to hear of your negative experience with Princess.
I can't for the life of me figure out why they routed you to Acapulco via Las Vegas and Atlanta. I have used Princess Air to almost every part of the globe Princess sails and never had an experience like yours. And the luggage--no surprise they lost it with a convoluted itinerary like that. I think I would have seen disaster coming and had my travel agent book the air independently.
As for Regal Princess itself, I pointed out it is an older ship and really can't be compared to the newer Grand class ships; it was built before many of the amenities on the newer ships were thought of. And it is not as elegant; but I was on her a couple of years ago and it was in no way sub-par to the newer ships--just different, and in some ways, better.
And yes, she is leaving the Princess fleet in September, but it is going to P&O. I have visited several P&O ships and I would say, if anything, they are better maintained than the Princess ships; so I doubt if P&O would take posession of an inferior product.
So I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I believe your's was the exception, not the rule.

dr.j I'm also sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I have never sailed on the Regal Princess and have honestly avoided her after talking to others and reading their comments. There are some people that do like the Regal as f-Mattox says he does but many would not sail on her a second time.

We have used Princess air but always have paid the little extra to do an "air deviation" where we have chosen our own flights. I believe what you experienced can happen when booking cruise air with any cruise line. I have read complaints about cruise air with them all.

It is not just the cruise lines that book flights with short connection times. I booked air recently to Copenhagen and had to be extremely persistant to get the flights I wanted. The flights were booked online and then Delta canceled flights and rebooked unacceptable ones. When I called they kept insisting that there was plenty of time to make connections but I said I wanted a longer layover and finally got the flights I wanted.

In hind sight when you saw the flights you had been given your TA, or you if you booked directly with Princess, should have had them changed.

Cruise lines only have a certain air class that they can book for the price you are paying for the air portion of your cruise. If acceptable flights are not available in the booking class you will have to pay the difference to change to these flights. This is not unlike booking air directly with the airlines. If you go to any of their web sites and search flights by schedule rather than price you will frequently find that those with more connection, poor times, less direct routes and close connections are the cheaper flights.

[quote]Originally posted by dr.j:
BEWARE of this ship and Princess in general. The ship is being decommissioned this summer. QUOTE]
Decommissioned by name only. In October this ship will move to Australia and permanently cruise for P&O out of Sydney. Will be renamed to Pacific Dawn.
Might be "old and not up to par", but it will be the newest ship for P&O Oz and the "pride of the fleet" . On one of the other sites,there seems to be much fanfare & flagwaving for this "new" ship.